ISW explains why Ukraine's Armed Forces may pause in their counteroffensive

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) reported this. 

“Ukrainian forces may be temporarily pausing counteroffensive operations to reevaluate their tactics for future operations,” the report says. 

ISW analysts support this assumption with references to the words of Colonel Margo Grosberg, the head of Estonian military intelligence, and a June 17 Wall Street Journal article, which also noted the suspension of Ukrainian attacks in recent days as the Ukrainian command is reviewing the tactics of future combat operations.

“These reports are consistent with ISW’s recent observations of the scale and approach of localized Ukrainian counterattacks in southern and eastern Ukraine,” the ISW noted. 

The ISW points out that the Ukrainian command has not yet sent most of its available forces to the counteroffensive and has not yet deployed its main combat units.

“Operational pauses are a common feature of major offensive undertakings, and this pause does not signify the end of Ukraine’s counteroffensive,” the analysts emphasized. 

The report also notes that Ukrainian troops continued counteroffensives on June 18 in at least four frontline areas and gained some territorial successes.

• On June 18, ISW experts named the areas and directions of the front where the Defense Forces are conducting counteroffensive actions.

• UK intelligence also noted that the Ukrainian military continues to conduct counteroffensives at the front. Meanwhile, the Russian army has suffered its heaviest losses since March, when the battle for Bakhmut was at its height.